Cyborg Superman
The Cyborg Superman is a a supervillain and foe of both Superman and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). He is currently the Grandmaster of the Manhunters. History Origin Hank Henshaw first appeared as part of the crew of the doomed Lex Corp space shuttle, Excalibur. In a homage to the origin of the Fantastic Four (with Hank subbing for Reed Richards), the entire crew was bombarded with cosmic radiation and the shuttle crashed. Upon exiting all four crew members where mutated from the accident and dying. They travel to Metropolis in hopes to cure their mutation. They run into Superman, and after a brief period of being delaid Hank begins to rabidly decay, while his wife begins to slowly turn invisible, and one crew member flies himself into the sun. Now at Lex Corp, Hank and Superman rush to cure the remaining crew members when Hank fully decomposes. However, his sacrifice was enough to cure his wife. As she and Superman visit the final member of the crew it is too late, as he too commits sucide. However, with Hank's body lying on Lex Corp's computer's his mind is transfrered the database. Realizing he can control technology Henshaw builds a robotic body for himself and attempts to visit his wife. Horrified at the shock of wha Hank's become Terri jumps out the wind committing suicide. Broken, Hank transfers his mind out of the body and using NASA's computers downloads himself into Superman's ship (drifting above Earth's atomosphere). Henshaw then fashions himself a small space craft and leaves Earth telling Superman there is now nothing for him there. While journeying in space, Henshaw becomes more mentally unstable and begins to blame Superman for all his losses. It is then Henshaw come's across a planet ruled over by Mongul. Learning of the conquerer's hatred for Superman and of Warworld. Henshaw then forcefully recruits the villain in a plan to get revenge upon Superman. Reign of the Supermen However, when Henshaw returns to Earth he finds that Superman is dead (dying at the hands of Doomsday). It is then Henshaw fashions a new plan. Using the Kryptonian technology and "Birthing Matrix" from his time in Superman's ship, Henshaw creates a Cyborg body with Superman's DNA. He then poses as Superman and fools the entire world (including Lois Lane herself) that he is the returned hero. Henshaw then goes to Cadmus and exile Doomsday body into space plus performs some heroic deeds. Still, not everything goes acccording to Henshaw's plan as three other men appear claiming to be Superman (John Henry Irons, the modern Superboy, and the Eradicator) at the same time Henshaw appears. The Destruction of Coast City ---- Not soon afterword, an alien ship appears above Coast City. Both Henshaw and the Eradicator converge to the city. It is there where Henshaw reveals his true intentions as he gravely wounds the Eradicator and prevents him from stopping Mongul in destroying the city. After the meltdown, Mongul and Henshaw begin to turn Coast City's remains into Engine City (the first step for making Earth into Warworld). Henshaw then frames the now missing Eradicator for the destruction. He then tricks and defeats Superboy as he launches a nuclear missle onto Metropolis with hopes of making a second Engine City. It is then Superman reveals himself to be alive and Superboy exposes the remaining heroes (including Hal Jordan and Supergirl) of Henshaw's evil. Irons stops the missles, while the remaining heroes lay seige to Engine City. As the Eradicator rejoins the fray, Jordan defeats Mongul. Henshaw then lures Superman and the Eradicator to the heart of Engine City (which is fueled by kryptonite). Attempting to murder both with the radiation, the Eradicator sacrifices himself to save Superman. Due to his shielding the Man of Steel, the radiation is altered and instead restores Superman's powers. He then easily defeats the weakened Henshaw (who was also effected by the radiation). However, the victory is tainted as the incident allows Jordan to be infected with the fear entity, Parallax. ---- Apokolips and the Trial of Superman Before exiling Doomsday into space, Henshaw had installed a device on the monster to allow him to detect if Doomsday were to ever escape. After the destruction of his 'Cyborg Superman' form, Henshaw transfers his consciousness into this device, as Doomsday is "the safest place in the galaxy" for the Cyborg to hide. Doomsday is brought onboard a space cruiser and manages to escape, eventually landing on Apokolips. Henshaw then emerges taking a new body and form (with Apokoliptian batle armor). The two then lay seige to Apokolips and defeat even Darkseid himself. However the victory is shortlived with the arrival of Superman, as Doomsday is transported and Henshaw is defeated once more. Imprisoned by Darkseid, he is then later freed when the ruler of Apokolips with the cost being Henshaw must never again return to the planet. It is after this Henshaw joins up with a intergalactic Tribunal, who wish to put Superman on trial for the crimes of his ancestors. Henshaw asists them by capturing (Superboy, Steel, Supergirl, and the Eradicator) and taking back an escaping Superman. Not soon after, he betrays the Tribunal, but again is stopped by Sueprman. With his criminal past revealed, Henshaw is then sentenced to be transported to a Black Hole to which he can never escape from it. Final Night and the Manhunters Not long after this Henshaw is freed from the black hole by Parallax, still looking for revenge upon Henshaw with Coast City's destruction. The two then fight at the Source Wall ( a nexus that flows vital energies to perserve the Fourth World). Jordan then creates a construct of the millions of people from Coast City who perished that tear Henshaw apart. Jordan then disperses Henshaw's conscience, appearing to finally kill him. However, Henshaw lives by merging with a fragment of the Source Wall. His appearances after this event may have been retconned. The reason is in "Revenge of the Green Lanterns" and "Sinestro Corps" it make's no mention of his appearances past this point. Nor does Henshaw's powers he had attained from the Phantom Zone have been used or mentioned. , his escape via the Source Wall now may be because of the Manhunters, instead of by his own. Regardless, he is discovered by the Guardians' former servants and become's their new Grandmaster. Henshaw then uses the technology he's learned over the years and upgrades the Manhunters (a power battery for a head and organic blood). Henshaw then proceeds his new followers to capture presumed dead Green Lantern Corps memebers. It is because of this that attracts GLs Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner to the Manhunter homeworld, Boit. A battle erupts with some lost GLs freed and Boit destroyed. Jordan reports this all to the Guardians, who then deems that Henshaw must be captured and interogated by them for knowledge of 52 (as in the 52 alternate worlds). One of them finds Henshaw's still working head amongst the ruins of Boit and takes him back to Oa. Sinestro Corps War Interogated by the Guardians, it is learned that Henshaw does know of 52. He is then freed (and rebuilt) by the Sinestro Corps (along with Superboy Prime) and joins them as a herald of their Guardian, the Anti-Monitor. His reason for joining the group is revealed that he wishes to perish and beleives that the Anti-Monitor is the only one who can truly kill him. Henshaw then upgrades Ranx the living city, and builds a Warworld for the SC so they can invade Earth and has his Manhunters act as a powerbatteries and soldiers for Sinestro's war. On the eve of the invasion of Earth, Henshaw visits his late wife Terri's grave and exsumes her corpse before destroying it screaming he'll be free. Cyborg Superman then does the task he was assigned during the invasion, taking out the Justice League Watchtower space station that orbits Earth. Eventually, Superman arrives and a battle enrupts between him and Henshaw. Their battle ends up in Liberty Island and Superman appears is no match for the now ring powered cyborg. Daring the Man of Steel to kill him, Henshaw is almost given his sweet embrace not soon after by the combined team of Superman, Supergirl, and Powergirl. During the massive war in the center of New York, Henshaw still powers on after the defeat and is attacked by the Guardians, but he endures (even noting how they fail to kill him like all the other's). The battle reaches it's climax when Henshaw, some of his Manhunters, and the Anti-Monitor are trapped by the GLC, who then send Warworld down upon them. Right before the explosion Henshaw cheerfully thanks his enemies and dies. The Manhunters on the batttlefield then deactivate and Henshaw's remains are sent along with the Anti-Monitor's into space by Superboy Prime's hands. The battle ends not soon after. However, a group of Manhunters track Henshaw's corpse and sensing that they need their Grandmaster bring Henshaw back to life. Upon realizing he is alive once more, Henshaw's human eye begins to weep. The Cyborg Superman is still currently at large and has been confirmed to play a role in the next GL crossover, "Blackest Night" and appear in a future issue of Booster Gold (written and drawn again by his creator Dan Jurgens). Powers & Ablities Following being bathed in cosmic radiation the Cyborg Superman is a being of energy. His mind can be transfered to anything electronical or even solid rock (as shown when he bonded with the fragment of Source Wall). It is because of this power that he is very hard to kill permantantly.. The Cyborg Superman has survived being ripped apart, blasted twice by the Omega Beams, sent into a black hole, planetary destruction, and disentagrated. He is also a technopath being able to create and meld technology. Due to this ablity Cyborg Superman has Kryptonian, Apokolips , and numerous other technologies. It has been shown numerous times that he can use this power to also warp his body and use whatever weapon that is of use to him. Likewise, he can destroy an enemies weapon as shown in "Reign" when he possessed Steel's armor and destroyed Superman's ray gun without a second thought. With the Kryptonian technology Henshaw can make a Kryptonian body with Superman's DNA. Thus, he has access to all of Superman's powers (flight, x-ray vision, super strength, and invularbilty). He also uses two forms of heat vision. The first is just from his cyborg eye. The second and more lethal version is from both eyes. It is not known if Henshaw has Superman's ice breath though, or if he just doesn't favor it's use as with the rest of Superman's powers. However, this also make's him open to Superman's weaknesses (Kryptonite and red sun). Also his metallic parts aren't as strong as the Kryptonian flesh as shown numerous times when his body was destroyed. The Cyborg Superman can even wield power rings which even increases his power. He wore six Green Lantern Corps rings on hand. When he was with the Sinestro Corps, he wore ten Qwardian power rings on each finger. Like any ring wielder for either corps, the Cyborg Superman can create constructs with them. Currently Henshaw is one of a select group of people to have wield more than one set of ring. The other people who've done this being Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Fatality, Sinestro, and Batman. Henshaw is also one of the few who wields more than one ring. The only other people who've done so has been Mongul and Hal Jordan. Other Media Crossovers The Cyborg Superman has appeared in three crossover books DC has had. They are: -Green Lantern vs the Silver Surfer: In the story, Parallax (Hal Jordan) opens a dimensional hole into the Marvel universe that Henshaw enters. He destroys a planet once spared by the Surfer when he was Galactus's herald. A fight breaks out between the two. It ends when Parallax arrives onto the scene. Of note however, Henshaw learns of Galactus. -Superman vs the Terminator: The lead villain in the story, the Cyborg Superman teams up with Skynet to terminator John Connor and ensure it wins the war with the humans. Henshaw is teamed up with a female terminator who he later bonds with to battle Superman. He is defeated when Superman destroys the terminator half of him. Henshaw then escapes. -Superman/Fantastic Four: Henshaw shares villain credit with Galactus. Still remembering his previous encounter with the Surfer, Henshaw frames Galactus for Krypton's destruction via a crystal Galactus sent to the Man of Steel. Superman then goes to the Marvel Universe (with Henshaw secretly tagging along) to investigate. Stopping at the Baxter Building home to the Fanstastic Four, Henshaw reveals himself and a fight ensures between him verus Superman and the Four. It ends when Galactus transports Superman and Reed Richards away. A uneasy partnership is then formed with the remaining Four and Henshaw to find their missing comrades (the reason being Henshaw can track Galactus). During their trip to find Galactus, Henshaw learns of how similar the Four and his origins are. He even comments how lucky they where compared to he and his crew. They then find Reed, Superman (who is now Galactus's herald), and Galactus, who's feeding on a planet. Too late to save the planet the reunited Four and Henshaw escape to track Galactus and his ship. Upon sneaking aboard the ship, Henshaw betrays the Four, attempting to merge with Galactus's ship and attain the Devourer of Worlds' technology. A fight erupts with Superman entering it and breaking free of Galactus's control. His attempt of merging failed, Henshaw pleas to Galctus to make him his new herald and make him perfect with the power cosmic. Galactus annoyed, turns Henshaw into a block of perfect metal with the power cosmic. Television A homage to the Cyborg Superman appears in the series Legion of Superheroes. In the season 2 episode, "Message in a Bottle" a Superman Robot bears a striking resemblence to Henshaw. He is voiced by Superman voice actor, Yuri Lowenthal. Movies In DC's direct-to-DVD movie Superman: Doomsday (based on the Death/Return of Superman) it features a varation of the character as a clone of Superman (who also has the combined elements of Superboy and the Eradicator). The part of Henshaw that is used is the clone's madness and becoming the villain Superman must defeat at the film's climax. Video Games In "The Death and Return of Superman" (for the SNES and Sega Genesis) the Cyborg Superman is a playable character in the game (along with Superman and the other three Superman imposters). The stages recreate several elements of the actual comic story including Henshaw attacking Cadmus and fighting the Eradicator. Henshaw also is the final boss in the game. The Cyborg Superman also appears as a boss character in the Superman game, "Superman: The Man of Steel" (for the X-Box).